TSA Tightens Policies -- After Bombing Suspect Slipped Through

Terrorists are creative; security agencies need to be as well

Little old ladies, families with toddlers and harried road warriors better be prepared for closer scrutiny by the Transportation Security Agency. After permitting Faisal Shahzad, who was charged with last Saturday's (fortunately) unsuccessful attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square, screeners permitted him to pass through security at JFK International Airport on Monday evening, and Emirates Airlines let him on the plane.

Shahzad's name had been added to the no-fly list a few hours earlier, but it appears that no one (or at least no one with both responsibility and a functioning brain) at the agency or the airline had bothered to look at the list. He reportedly purchased his one-way ticket with cash in the last minute.Isn't that supposed to be brightest of all red flags? He could well have been winging his way to Dubai International Airport andthen on to Pakistan efore anyone looked at the list. Things changed fast after the close call.

Even though TSA personnel are supposed to match names on airline tickets with photo IDs before letting them proceed to the metal-detector and X-ray of carry-ons, airlines are responsible for monitoring the no-fly list. Everyone involed has gotten a wake-up call.

The government is now requiring airlines to check the no-fly list within two hours after being notified that the list had been updated. Until this new policy was instituted, airlines had had to check for updated every 24 hours. In 24 hours, a passenger boarding an international flight could be anywhere in the world. While TSA agents missed Shahzad at the security checkpoint and Emirates missed him when he checked in, Customs and Border Protection spotted his name on the passenger list and apprehended him before the plane took off for Dubai, Emirates' home base Meanwhile, since the incident,.Emirates, an enthusiastic proponent of Open Skies, does not mention a word of new alertness on its website.

According to a report in Travel Weekly, a travel trade publication, "The U.S. government's plan is to eventually take over the task of watch list matching. In 2009, the government began phasing in domestic flights. International flights aren’t covered by the government yet."

Like the Army is often accused of "fighting the last war," the TSA has been obsessed with the America's big airline incident, namely 9/11. The hijackers took over aircraft on domestic flights, so the security efforts have been directed there. A U.S.-bound Nigerian with explosives sewn into his underwear and a troubled Pakistani-American on the lam for a failed midtown Manhattan car bombing just wasn't on U.S. security's radar screen.

Good that someone was paying attention. And I hope that the TSA can keep its collective eyes and minds open, look for something else "unusual" and lay off little old ladies, families with toddlers and harried road warriors.

Indigenous Dances -- And Adaptations

Traditions preserved -- for tourists?

Indigenous villages in tourist areas, like El Fuerte where Mexico's famous Copper Canyon train leaves from, often find ways to preserve some of their traditions (usually dance, music, food preparation) by demonstrating them for visitors.

Such is the village of Camposa, where a local tour operator called Turismo Fuerte, has arranged for a family to open their rustic home to visitors. Emilia makes tortillas the old way. Jose-Luis dances. I am time-crunched and will have no Internet access for several days, so blow are a two photo of a traditional dance representing a deer being hunted. First, Jose-Luis Martinez performis in the village. Then, a dance student does the same dance in town.

If you can tell from the only images I managed to take under conditions too challenging for my my small digital cameras Note the differences in costume details. Jose-Luis is holding a real deer head in his teeth near the end of the dance. The costumed dancer never does that. And the deer head he is wearing is elaborately decorated.

United-Continental Image and Policies

Image of United-Continental merger emerges

 

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And behind the image is the intention is to be put into effect when the merger becomes official at the end of the year. This morning's E-mail brought an upbeat message called "Let's Fly Together" to members of United's MileagePlus and Continental's OnePass loyalty programs. The message touted:

• Ten hubs (including the four largest cities in the US).
• Service to 370 destinations in 59 countries.
• Continuing vice to 140 smaller cities (they don't say whether through regional affiliates or what, but smaller cities usually bear the brunt of big-business decisions)
• Refurbishment and replacement of older aircaft + Continental's more fuel-efficient fleet. 
• Implementation of both carriers; "best-in-class practices."
• Affiliation with 24 Star Alliance members with service to more than 1,000 worldwide cities.

Icelandair Adds Destinations, Lowers Fuel Surchargers

Icelandair to fly to 20 cities in the UK and Europe

With connections through its hub in Reykjavik and the addition of Stavanger, Norway, and Düsseldorf, Germany, later this year, Icelandair's route system is expanding to some 20 destinations in Scandinavia, Great Britain and Continental Europe. These new flights will operate seasonally from May 8 to September 29, 2009. Year-round North American gateways are Boston and New York-JFK, with season service to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Orlando Sanford, Halifax and Toronto.

United and Continental to Merge

Boards of Directors reportedly have approved joining of two airline giants

According to ChicagoBreakingBusiness.com, on Monday (tomorrow) United and Continental will officially announce a consummation of their courtship and become one -- the one being the world's largest airline, which is to be called United. Overlapping but not duplicate route systems and complementary corporate cultures are reportedly the benefits of this marriage of two airline giants. The corporate headquarters of the combined carrier will move its operations from Houston to Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), but Houston will become its biggest hub. Stay tuned for more information.

More on Snow that Stays & Snow that Slides

Followup: With great ski conditions come avalanches

Since December 29, when I wrote a cautionary post on avalanches in western North America, the snow has kept falling and fatalities have continued to rise. Even the New York Times, which doesn't often concern itself with our mountains, has noticed. According to an article called "Fatal Avalanches Rattle Ski Country in the West" in today's sports section:

"Since Dec. 14, avalanches have caused 13 deaths in the United States and
23 total in North America — one in a roof slide and the others in skiing,
snowboarding, snowmobiling and ice-climbing incidents, according to Dale Atkins,
vice president for the avalanche rescue commission at the International
Commission for Alpine Rescue.

"Perhaps most troubling to resorts and safety officials is that three
people died in-bounds — areas at resorts that are perceived as safe terrain.
Avalanches in in-bounds areas have led to deaths of skiers at Squaw Valley in
California, at Snowbird in Utah and at Jackson Hole. It is the most in-bound
deaths in one season since three skiers were killed in a single avalanche at
Alpine Meadows in 1976.

“'One in-bound fatal avalanche in a season is unusual; three separate
fatal incidents in one season is really rare,'” said Bob Comey, director of the
Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center. “It’s been a really big problem.
We’re doing what we normally do. Our techniques work really well, but they’re
not ever 100 percent guaranteed.'”

This is the rare kind of winter when reports of epic snowfalls at Western ski resorts are cause for both joy and concern. So again, skiers, snowboarders, backcountry skiers and snowmobilers are advised pack a good portion of caution when venturing into the high country.

Air France's Reservation-Hold Fee

Airline booking procedures carry financial risk. A new way to mitigate it?

So you've snared a low fare to someplace you want to go. So you know about yield management, which results in air fare quotes that can change in a matter of hours, if not minutes. So you have to check with a traveling companion or the dogsitter to make sure traveling on those dates will work. So you stare at the screen, reading about sudden-death booking conditions -- once you've clicked to book a ticket with a well-priced fare, it's yours with no penalty-free refunds or changes.

UpgradeTravelBetter.com reported that "in some [Air France] markets, you can reserve a low fare for up to two weeks, without buying the ticket, for €10." That certainly should be plenty of time to get your proverbial ducks in a row before you nail down your ticket. Don't get excited yet. North America is not one of those markets -- yet. The site quoted the translation of a Dutch report with details on this innovation. (Why a Dutch report? Because the same holding company owns Air France and KLM.)

When reserving online, you can choose the Time to Think option*. Starting at €10 per passenger, this new option lets you hold your reservation and fare for up to 14 days**.


To purchase your ticket, simply visit the “Manage your reservations” section.

If you decide not to confirm the reservation, it will be canceled automatically when your Time to Think period expires.

* This option is offered on our flights within metropolitan France and from France to Europe and North Africa.
** The period allowed varies according to your reservation date, destination and travel fare conditions. Option non-refundable and in addition to your ticket price.

Is it a good idea? Probably for expensive long-haul tickets, but maybe not so great for (presumably) less expensive tickets for short flights. As for domestic "within metropolitan France," I wouldn't bother flying at all but would take the wonderful TGV. Why go through all the annoyances of airports and air travel these days when a high-speed train whisks you through the landscape?

Even though North Americans are not yet given Time to Think, Upgrade blogger Mark Ashley did offer a suggestion: "When I do a test booking of an itinerary between Charlotte and Paris (via Detroit and/or Atlanta), I’m given an option of holding the itinerary for over 24 hours — until 10 pm the next night — at no cost. It’s not 14 days of hold time, but it’s not 10 euros, either."

Travel within France and to nearby European countries aside, this is another add-on that other airlines are surely looking at and might copy.